Preliminary disintegrating machine particularly adapted to size reduce wood blocks, rubber tires and the like



March 20, 1956 c. A. RIETZ 2,738,932

PRELIMINARY DISINTEGRATING MACHINE PARTICULARLY ADAPTED T0 SIZE REDUCE WOOD BLOCKS, RUBBER TIRES AND THE LIKE Filed April 12. 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 1 g l III 1'1 I I-Il-I H T m o 0 H g L 30 o I -5 0 O 0 T Q a 3 .LI /H INVENTOR. (ar/ ,4 zQ/Zf/Z ATTORNEYS March 20, 1956 RIETZ 2,738,932 PRELIMINARY DISINTEGRATING MACHINE PARTICULARLY ADAPTED TO SIZE REDUCE WOOD BLOCKS, RUBBER TIRES AND THE LIKE Filed April 12. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY! A INVENTOR.

IIIIIIII March 20, 1956 c. A. RIETZ 2,738,932

A'IING MACHINE PARTICULARLY AD PRELIMINARY DISINTEGR APTED TO EDUCE WOOD BLOCKS, RUBBER TIRES AND THE LIKE Filed April 12, 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENIOR. Car/ 4. P/e/Z V J i%@@ 2%- United States PatentO PRELIMINARY DISINTEGRATING MACHINE PARTICULARLY ADAPTED TO SIZE RE- DUCE WOOD BLOCKS, RUBBER TIRES AND THE LIKE Carl A. Rietz, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Rietz Manufacturing Co., San Francisco, Calif, a corporation of California Application April 12, 1952, Serial No. 281,972

4 Claims. (Cl. 241-190) This invention relates generally to machines for the mechanical disintegration of various materials. 7

In industrial processes where it is desired to subject material to mechanical disintegration, it has been common to utilize mills of the hammer type, which disintegrate by mechanical impact. One mill of this type (i. e. Rietz mill) makes use of a vertical rotor carrying a plurality of hammers. The zone of operation of the rotor is surrounded by a cylindrical screen through which material is discharged.

There are many instances in which it is desirable to subject feed material to preliminary disintegration, before supplying it to a mill of the Rietz type. Preliminary disintegration may be desirable to reduce the initial frag ment size of the material or to subject fibrous material to preliminary breaking and shredding.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel machine which is particularly applicable for carrying out preliminary breaking or disintegrating operations of the type described above.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character which is capable of exerting relatively high disintegrating forces, and which is ap plicable to a wide variety of materials.

Additional objects of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a machine incorporating the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view illustrating the machine of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 1. I

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a view looking toward the feed end of the machine.

Figures 7A, B, C, D and E illustrate a suitable construction for one of the breaker arms.

Figures 8A, B and C are details illustrating the construction of the deflecting anvils.

Figures 9A and B are end and sectional details respectively illustrating the construction of the combing anvils.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional detail showing a modification. I

The machine as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing consists of a horizontal rotor 10, which is enclosed within the housing 11. The housing consists of the lower semicylindrical part 12, the upper semicylindrical part 13, and the hopper part 14. The parts 13 and 14 may be fabricated together by welding. Cooperating side flanges 16 and 17 facilitate clamping the two structures together. Material to be disintegrated is in- 7 2,738,932 Patented Mar. 20, 1956 troduced into the hopper 14, and after being acted upon by the rotor 10, it is finally delivered through the housing opening 18.

The rotor 10 consists of a shaft 21 which extends for the entire length of the machine. At the discharge end of the machine the shaft 21 is carried by the overhanging journal 22. At the other end of the machine the shaft is carried by journal 23 and is provided with an extension 24 for connection with suitable power driving means.

Mounted upon the shaft 21 within the housing are a plurality of breaker structures 26, such as illustrated in detail in Figures 7A, B, C, D and E. Thus each structure can consist of a hub 27, which carries a vane-like breaker arm 28. The inclination of each arm with respect to the axis of the shaft, as illustrated for example in Figure 7E, serves to urge the material being acted upon toward the discharge end of the housing. It is desirable to thicken and reinforce the advancing and trailing edges of each arm 28. Thus these edges are shown provided with the enlargements 28a and 28b, which serve to generally strengthen the arms and to minimize replacements due to excessive wear. The forward and rear faces 28c and 28d are preferably coincident with planes which are perpendicular to the shaft. It is desirable to construct each arm 28 integral with its hub 27. Thus these parts can be made of a suitable forging or casting.

When the breaker structures are assembled upon the shaft 21, they are engaged with a common key, and they are displaced angularly with respect to each other. Thus adjacent arms can be displaced by about Also the zone of operation of each arm is displaced axially from the zones of operation of adjacent arms. The structure 31 which is nearest the discharge opening 18, is preferably supplied with two breaker arms 32. These arms can be vane-like and constructed in substantially the same wayas the arm illustrated in Figure 7.

In order to secure the desired breaking and disintegrating action, it is desirable to provide stationary breaker anvils. Thus extending upwardly from the lower wall of the housing, below the hopper 14, I provide the longitudinally spaced anvils 33. Similar anvils 34 extend downwardly from the upper wall of the housing part 13, and another set of anvils 35 extend upwardly and inwardly from the lower wall of the housing part 12, below the general location of the anvils 34.

Construction of the anvils 33 is illustrated in Figures 9A and B. Each anvil is formed of a rigid body having a hardened and thickened impact face 36. The side surfaces 37 as viewed from the end of the anvil, converge toward the rear edge 38. Also the contour of the rear edge 38 is such that the anvil is tapered, as illustrated in Figure 9B.

To facilitate mounting and removal of the stationary anvils, it is desirable that they be mounted in sets upon a separate mounting plate. Thus the anvils 33 are secured to a plate 39 which is-bolted or otherwise secured to the adjacent wall of the housing. The housing is provided with a series of openings 41 to accommodate the anvils. The anvils 33 should be located below the axis of the shaft. The anvils 34 and 35 are similarly carried by the mounting plates 42 and 43. As illustrated particularly in Figure 3, it will be noted that the anvils 33 are arranged whereby the breaker armspass between and in relatively close apposition to the same. This likewise applies to the positioning of the anvils 34 and 35.

It is desirable to provide deflecting means in conjunction with hopper 14 to insure deflection of material being treated into the zone of operation of the main rotor. One such deflector 46 is illustrated in Figure 8. It consists of a body having side faces 47 which converge outwardly randnpwardly. Figure 1, taken together with Figure 4,

illustrates the way in which such anvils can be, positioned along one side wall of the. hopper 14, with their lower ends coincident with a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the shaft 21. As shown in Figure 1 the horizontal spacing between the anvils is such that the breaker arms pass between the same. The action of these deflector anvils is such that they tend to deflect adjacent falling material into the zone of operation of the breaker The discharge end of the housing can be open as illustrated or may be provided with spaced radial struts (not shown) to provide a shearing action with respect to the adjacent breaker structures.

Operation of the machine described above is as follows: vThe shaft 24 is driven at a suitable rate of speed, depending upon the material being handled. The material is introduced into the hopper 14 and is acted upon by the breaker arms. As the material is broken up it is forced by the breaker arms toward the right as viewed in Figures 1 and 2, andinto that part of the housing near the discharge end which is completely enclosed. The combing anvils 33, 34 and 35 also actupon the material in conjunction with the rotating breaker arms, and serve to prevent general rotation of the body of material in conjunction with rotation of the rotor. The action is partly shearing and partly breaking and crushing. With respect to the shearing action note that the breaker arms pass in relatively close shearing proximity with the stationary anvils 33, 34 and 35. Assuming a continuous feed, material is continuously discharged through the opening 18. This material canv be supplied to a secondary disintegrating machine, for example a hammer mill of the Rietz type.

By way of example, the main shaft may be 4 inches in diameter, and the breaker arms may operate in a housing having an internal diameter of 12 inches, and

with a clearance of about /3 inch between the end of each hammer and the adjacent wall of the housing. When driven at a speed of 80 R. P. M. by a 5 H. P. motor, such a breaker was capable of crushing blocks of wood measuring 4 by 4 inches in thickness. A similar but larger machine, driven by a 20 H. P. motor was able to shred old' automobile tires at the rate of 3 tires per minute. In general the speed of rotation should be relatively low (e. g. from 60 to 180 R. P. M.) and the driving motor and drive gearing should provide high torque.

In the modification of Figure 10, the inner ends of the stationary anvils (35 in this instance) are accommodated within grooves 51 provided in the hubs 27. This provides a mating arrangement which is particularly desirable for relatively heavy duty machines.

I claim:

1. In a disintegrating machine of the character described, a housing having an opening for receiving feed material and an end opening for discharge of disintegrated material, a rotatable horizontal shaft mounted in said housing, a plurality of hubs mounted on said shaft, a plurality of vane-like breaker arms angularly displaced with respect to each other and integral with said hubs, each arm comprising thickened advancing and trailing edges and web parts connecting said advancing and trailing edges, said web parts being inclined with respect to the axis of the shaft whereby said advancing and trailing edges are angularly and axially displaced to urge the material being disintegrated toward the discharge end of the housing, each of said advancing edges being substantially tangential to the circumference of the corresponding hub, and spaced breaker anvils mounted on the housing and extending between the paths of movement of said breaker 4 arms, said breaker anvils having impact faces substantially coincident with planes passing through and parallel to the axis of said shaft, the breaker arms being disposed to pass between adjacent breaker anvils and in spaced relationship thereto as the arms are rotated.

2. A machine as in claim 1 in which said trailing and advancing edges have substantially flat forward and rear faces respectively, said forward and rear faces being coincident with planes perpendicular to the axis of the shaft.

3. A machine as in claim 2 together with horizontally spaced deflecting anvils mounted upon one side wall of said housing, said deflecting anvils comprising side faces which converge outwardly and upwardly, and a lower surface, said lower surface being substantially coincident with a horizontal plane passing through the axis of said shaft, the horizontal spacing between said deflecting anvils being such that said breaker arms pass between the deflecting anvils whereby the deflecting anvils deflect adjacent falling material into the zone of operation of the breaker arms.

4. In a disintegrating machine of the character described, a housing having an open portion for receiving feed material and initiating the disintegration of the material, a closed portion for continuing disintegration of the material, and an end opening for the discharge of dis integrated material, a rotatable horizontal shaft mounted in said housing, a plurality of hubs mounted on said shaft, a plurality of vane-like breaker arms angularly spaced with respect to each other and integral with said hubs, each arm comprising thickened advancing and trailing edges, forward faces on said trailing edges, rear faces on said advancing edges, and inclined web parts connecting the advancing and trailing edges, said webs being inclined with respect to the axis of the shaft whereby said advancing and trailing edges are angularly and axially displaced to urge material being disintegrated toward the discharge end of the housing, said advancing edges being tangential to the circumference of said shaft, said forward and rear faces being coincident with planes perpendicular tosaid shaft, a single aligned row of breaker anvils mounted on the bottom wall of the open portion.

of said housing and extending between the paths of'movement of said breaker arms through the major part of the distance between said hubs and said housing, said breaker anvils having impact surfaces substantially coincident with planes passing through .and parallel to the axis of said shaft, a single aligned row of deflecting anvils mounted upon one side wall of the open portion of said housing, said deflecting anvils being tapered and serving to deflect adjacent falling material into the zone of operation of the breaker arms, and two rows of aligned breaker anvils angularly displaced with respect to each other in the'closed portion of said housing and extending between the paths of movement of said breaker arms through a major part of the distance between said hubs and said housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 317,840 Newman May 12, 1885 468,762 Bushaw Feb. 9, 1892 1,303,143 Albers May 6, 1919 1,456,034 Newman May22, 1923 2,066,756 Anderson Jan. 5, 1937 2,286,545 Hoehn June 16, 1942 2,522,843 Selman Sept. 19, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,738 Sweden Nov. 9, 1903 235,985 Great Britain July 2, 1925 

